Tuesday, February 16, 2016
In
Michigan, Sanders Slams Government That Has Money for War, Not for Flint
'It is beyond my comprehension that in the
year 2016 in the United States of America we are poisoning our children.'
Bernie Sanders greets a crowd of 9,300
supporters at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti on Monday. (Photo: Bill
Pugliano/ Getty Images)
Speaking at a campaign stop in Michigan on
Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders said that the embattled community
of Flint is the "canary in the coal mine"
in a country that has seemingly endless money to spend on wars in the Middle
East, but cannot afford to protect its citizens or rebuild its aging
infrastructure.
"It is beyond my comprehension that in
the year 2016 in the United States of America we are poisoning our
children," he told a crowd of more than 9,300 people at Eastern Michigan
University after meeting with a number of Flint residents earlier in the day.
"Can you imagine being a mother, seeing
your own baby’s, your own child’s intellectual development, deteriorate in
front of your very eyes?" he asked the crowd during a mid-afternoon rally.
"That is happening all over that city."
The remarks were met with chants from the crowd for arrest
of Governor Rick Snyder, whose resignation Sanders had previously demanded. "I’ve called for Snyder’s
resignation, that’s fine," the Vermont senator said again on Monday.
"But if the local government cannot protect those children, if the state
government cannot protect those children, then the federal government better
get in and do the right thing."
He also said that Flint "may be the
worst example of a collapsing infrastructure, but it is not the only
example."
Sanders contrasted those who question the
expense of replacing Flint's damaged pipes and water infrastructure to the
"trillions" spent on waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan. "When
we went to war in Iraq, the trillions we spent there, not a problem,"
Sanders said.
Throughout the campaign for the
Democratic nomination, Sanders has repeatedly differentiated himself from his
opponent Hillary Clinton over their opposing votes on the Iraq War—which she
supported and he did not. Both candidates, however, have made the ongoing water
crisis in Flint a focus of their campaigns with
Clinton visiting the city earlier this month.
Later in the day, Sanders spoke at a rally at
the United Auto Workers Local 600 union hall in Dearborn during which he
repeated the criticism, saying: "If we can rebuild villages in Iraq and
Afghanistan, we can damn well rebuild Flint, Michigan."
After meeting with the victims of the water
crisis, Sanders said that he was forced to ask himself: "What country am I
living in? Is this the United States of America?"
"I fear very much that Flint is the
canary in the coal mine here," he added.
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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